Lughnasadh 2006
By Foxglove

Circle cast
Circle cast in Celtic Cross.

HPS: 	I draw the circle, Round and round
The powers we raise shall now be bound
By Sun and Moon
Earth Sky and Sea
The circle is cast
So Mote it Be.

Elements taken around thus: 

Air from centre, out to East, deosil around to air and back to centre.
Water from centre, out to west, deosil around to water and back to centre.
Fire from centre, out to North, deosil around to fire, back to centre.
Earth out to South, deosil around to earth, then back to centre.
As the elements are taken around the circle, the HPs and Choir 
(whoever remembers the words) shall sing the Lughnasadh Song;

By Barley seed and Rowan tree
By magic strong and free
By Goddess fair with golden hair
We do call to thee.
By harvest home and Summers gold
The fields and the grain
By heated days and blessed nights
And gentle Autumn rain.
Come gather in the harvest now
Come gather in the corn
Come gather in and sit awhile
By Oak and Ash and Thorn.
(repeat)

Quarter invocations

Welcome

HPS:	At Midsummer, we celebrated the powers of the Sun, the height of the Lands sovereignty and we 
experienced the cooling powers of the waters of life. Now is the time of Lughnasadh, the time of the Harvest, the time of sacrifice and the time where we begin to reap the benefits of our efforts for the year. It is a time to give thanks and a time for honouring the shadow that is felt in the light of summer. 

Invocations

HPS:	Lugh Lámhfada
Shining child
Long armed Lord of Sun and harvest
We your children call upon thee
For the time of sacrifice has arrived 
and it is to you that we make our offerings.
O lord of Light come with thy spear of flames 
And bless this rite
Shining lord we welcome thee.
Failte Lugh! 
All:	Failte Lugh!

HP: 	Tailtiu, Great Goddess of Sovereignty 
Foster mother of Lugh.
Thou who gave your own life,
So the lands may be fertile.
By the powers of the grain
By the light of your Son
And by the waters of remembrance
We call thee
Failte Tailtiu!

All:	Failte Tailtiu!

HPS: 	Come hear the story of Lughnasadh. 
She then reads the story of Lughnasadh.

HPS:	I would tell you a tale of an isle that lies far from the Western Shore. An isle of vast forests and great lakes, a land re-shaped by each of the peoples who dwelt there for a time.  But as the years rolled on and the waves crashed upon the shore, two new peoples arrived who would change the land once more. With the new settlers was a Lady of high degree, versed in both the magic and the strength of the Earth. She was of both races, the bright and the dark, and had married a man of each during her life. Within her heart lay the balance of earth and spirit and at her breast was the Shining Sun, her foster child. The Lady knew the ways of soil and earth and found in the centre of the isle an area suitable to grow the crops needed to sustain her people. And so with magic and with blade she cleared the Land that the Earth be made fertile. She felled the trees, cleared the forests and created a rich and vast plain. 

But this was a Mighty act and she paid the price for it with her life. The Lady fell at the end of her task, a sacrifice to the Isle and the land that she had cleared, a sacrifice for her people.  Her foster son took up her body and laid it within a many chambered cairn, returning her to the earth of her power. He held great games in her honour and each year her sacrifice was remembered for he was bound by his duty, his honour and his love. 

But when the crops were good, the harvest plentiful, the memory of her sacrifice faded into legend, but in bad times, in hungry times, the foster son who had loved the Lady was invoked, and games held on the plain at the foot of the cairn. For within their blood the people felt the sacrifice of that Lady of long ago. She was in their bones and in the seeds they planted within the soil. And so to her foster son they gave of the harvest and the blood of their King, in truth or in the form of an effigy, a sacrifice in honour and rememberance. From blood to bone, from bone to earth, from earth to seed and grain. We remember the Lady, we remember Tailtu daughter of Magh Mor and Duach The Dark, foster mother of Lugh the Shining One... we remember the binding duty of Lugh and we together we celebrate Lughnasadh.

Once everyone has opened their eyes, there will be in the centre a 
corn dolly. The HP picks it up and says:

HP:	By the light of Lugh and the honor of Tailtiu we too will make due sacrifice. What have you learned 
from Tailtiu? What message has her story given thee? It is time for us too to consider what we are willing to sacrifice to make better our lives. Tailtiu' sacrifice was made in order for the lands to be fertile and in preparation for the seeds to be planted. Here at Lughnasadh we celebrate sacrifice, not only of the land in preparation for the coming sowing, but also of the flaming corn God. Think for a moment on what you are willing to sacrifice and when you are ready, write this on the paper, but ever be mindful that a sacrifice is the giving up of something with value for the greater good, rather than a minor thing that will not be missed or lived without, the choice  is yours!

HPS:	John Barleycorn, is the spirit of the corn, he was the seed planted in spring, he was the growth of the 
summer and now it is his time to be the sacrifice of Lughnasadh. It is his spirit that will take our sacrifices into the otherworld. let him die 3 times that our magic be great! 

Everyone then takes out there offering and is placed within the corn 
dollies fibers. The high priest will then mutter the sacred 
words:
HP:	"leat onórach" (in your honor).

HPS then calls forth the three women who represent Maiden, Mother 
and Crone. The doll is placed on the ground, the MMC will dance 
around it, everyone then starts singing the John Barleycorn song.

John Barleycorn is cut down dead,
It is his time to die!
The Sun that warmed our summer days
No longer is so high.
We thank him and the Goddess fair
We thank them for the Corn
We gather in the harvest now
And leave the fields forlorn.
(repeat 3 times)

Once Dolly has been charged, the Crone picks it up and says:

Crone:	1 times 3 your death shall be
for this is how it is written
by hanging noose, and severed head
and spear of flaming crimson.

The Crone then takes the noose and ties it to the dolly, she then 
giggles/cackles at the thought of the idea of his death as she 
swings him gently about the circle as if she is gloating. The 
mother then takes the dolly and says:

Mother: 2 times 3 your death shall be
for this is how it is written
by hanging noose, and severed head
and spear of flaming crimson.

She then takes the Sickle and tears it across his throat, thus 
killing him a second time. Yet she feels for the dolly and caresses 
it and hugs it gently as if it were her own child. The maiden then 
takes the dolly and says:

Maiden: 3 times 3 your death shall be
for this is how it is written.
By hanging noose, and severed head 
and spear of flaming crimson.

She then places the dolly in the cauldron and takes the spear which 
she passes the tip through a flame and sets it alight and then 
plunges it into the dolly, which will then catch alight. In shock 
of what she has done, she begins to cry and kneels before the flame 
with hands covering her face. The Mother and Crone go to her and 
say as they help her up:

Mother and Crone: What is done is done
And so had to be
Do not cry for him
But celebrate what has come to pass.

They then rejoin the circle and the HP then addresses the group:

HP:	The sacrifice of the Corn king is a time for celebration.
Let each of us take away with us some of his ashes to bless our gardens, our spells or what ever you will, for power comes from a sacrifice even if it is not known at the time. Reflect for a moment and remember the past year remember what you have gained, what you have lost and most importantly, what you have learned.

Whilst people do this, the cakes and beer are blessed by the HP and 
HPS.

Farewell Guardians 
Dryghton 
Close Circle